The Confederate Cemetery has
140 graves of soldiers mortally wounded in the Battle of Raymond, May
12, 1863. The Civil War soldiers, mostly from Tennessee and Texas, died
in private residences around the town that served as hospitals. A few
probably died of sickness while stationed in the area or died of wounds
from various local skirmishes or nearby battles such as Champion's Hill.
Those that were killed outright on the battlefield of Raymond were
reported to have been buried by the citizens of Raymond. A number of the
killed were never found.

In 1985, an effort was
initiated by Roger Hansen of Pascagoula to identify the Confederate dead
of the Battle of Raymond. A total of 109 were found, based upon the
Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers in the National
Archives, to have been killed or mortally wounded on the Raymond
battlefield. (The Union dead at Raymond were removed after the war by
the Federal Government and reinterred in the National Cemetery at
Vicksburg.) This compiled list is the first accounting of the Southern
heroes that died in and around Raymond as a result of the 12 May 1863
battle, but it should not be considered all inclusive due to the
incompleteness of historical records.

In a 1987 ceremony, the new
grave markers were dedicated. Members of Stanford's Mississippi Battery,
a Civil War reenactment group in authentic uniforms, fired a six-gun
salute to the dead. Writer Willie Morris, great-grandson of Civil War
Major George Harper who founded the Hinds County Gazette, participated
in the ceremonies. Text
of Dedication Speech